A frame with deformable locking means

ABSTRACT

An assembly which includes a frame and an air-guiding panel such as a louver. The frame has a pair of panel-carrying vertical ribs respectively formed with notches while the panel has opposed edge portions of a cross section matching that of the notches and received therein. Each of the ribs of the frame is provided next to its notch with a deformable locking nib while the edge portion of the panel adjacent to the locking nib is formed with a locking cutout. According to the method of the invention after the panel is situated within the notches of the ribs, the deformable locking nib is bent into the locking cutout to remain therein for providing a positive lock between the panel and the frame, thus preventing the panel from snapping or otherwise being removed out of the frame.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Louis Sommerfeld 165 West End Ave.,New York, N.Y. 10023 [21] Appl. No. 861,781 [22] Filed Sept. 29, 1969[45] Patented May 11, 1971 [54] FRAME WITH DEFORMABLE LOCKING MEANS 7Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 52/473, 52/664, 98/121, 287/189.36 51 Int. Cl E06b 7/08,F24f 13/08 [50] Field of Search 52/473, 660, 669, 664, 666, 74, 78;287/l89.36(A); 98/121 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,422,744 4/1967 Tamoff 52/473 """yum mil 1.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,339,490 1963 France Primary Examiner-John E. MurtaghAttorney-Blum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan ABSTRACT: An assembly whichincludes a frame and an airguiding panel such as a louver. The frame hasa pair of panelcarrying vertical ribs respectively formed with notcheswhile the panel has opposed edge portions of a cross section matchingthat of the notches and received therein. Each of the ribs of the frameis provided next to its notch with a deforma ble locking nib while theedge portion of the panel adjacent to the locking nib is formed with alocking cutout. According to the method of the invention after the panelis situated within the notches of the ribs, the deformable locking nibis bent into the locking cutout to remain therein for providing apositive lock between the panel and the frame, thus preventing the panelfrom snapping or otherwise being removed out of the frame.

I Pltcnted May 11, 1.971 3,577,864, r

FRAME WI'II-I DEFOIRMABLIE LOCKING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to air-guiding assemblies and to methods forassembling the same.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of assemblywhere the panels function to control the flow of air. For example, thepanels may take the form of louvers.

It is customary with conventional assemblies of this type to provideaframe which carries the panels and which has ribs formed withpanel-receiving notches into which opposed edges of the panels areplaced for assembling the frame and the panels. The opposed edges of thepanels are provided with a configuration conforming to the cross sectionof the notches and these opposed edge portions of the panels have afairly snug fit within the notches so that the panels are frictionallyretained in these notches to be carried by the frame.

However, this known construction is not entirely satisfactory becausethe panels are not reliably maintained connected with the frame. If suchan assembly receives a shock of a sufiiciently great impact, the panelscan simply bounce out of the frame. It is also possible by a simpletwist applied to any louver to remove it from the frame, so that thereliability of the connection of the components of such an assembly isof a very low order. An easy removal of the blades of such assemblies,either by a simpletwist applied to the blades or as a result of theshock, is highly undesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a construction which will avoid thesedrawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide an assemblyby the above general type capable of reliably retaining the panelsconnected with the frame structure even under conditions where theassembly is subjected to considerable shock or under conditions whereunauthorized removal of a louver is attempted as by twisting the louver.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide an assemblyof this type which can achieve the reliable interconnection between thecomponents with very little extra cost, and in a manner which does notrequire any further components to form part of the assembly.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide for theassembling of such components a method which can easily be carried outin a time which requires hardly any perceptible addition to that whichis in any event required for conventional assembly operations.

In accordance with the invention the frame has vertically extending,spaced ribs formed with notches while the louver panel has opposed edgeportions of a cross section matching that of the notches and receivedtherein so that in this way the panel is carried by the ribs of theframe. However, in accordance with the invention one of these ribs hasnext to its notch a deformable locking nib while the panel edge portionwhich is in the notch of this one n'b has a locking cutout into whichthe nib is deformed, by being bent into the cutout, in accordance withthe method of the invention, so that in this way a positive interlockingrelationship is achieved between the panel and frame preventing any easyremoval of the panel from the frame, as under the conditions referred toabove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective illustration of part of an assemblywhich is provided with the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 2-2 of FIG.1 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure of theinvention on a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 1; and

LII

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 3-3 of FIG.2 in the direction of the arrows and showingboth ends of a louver paneland the frame structure associated therewith.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there isfragmentarily shown therein one of a series of frames 10 which may bemade of any suitable metal, for example. Thus, the frames I0 may beextruded from a suitable metal so as to have the configurationillustrated in FIG. I. This frame 10 forms one of a series of verticalframes, in the illustrated example where an assembly of louvers isfragmentarily illustrated. The drawings show only enough of thestructure of the louver panels 1 to afford a complete understanding ofthe invention.

It will be noted that each frame 10 has opposed flat parallel walls 12aand 12b interconnected by a web 14. On one side of the web 14 thesewalls 12a and 12b are integrally formed with a pair of ribs 16a and 16bwhich in the illustrated example are situated in a common plane andwhich are straight and parallel to each other.

The ribs 16a and 16b are formed at uniform intervals with notches 18aand 18b. These notches are defined in part by edges 20a and 20b whichare situated in a common plane inclined with respect to the ribs and 16bas illustrated most clearly in FIG. 2. The edges of the notches opposedto the edges 20a and 20b thereof are :simply in the form of straightedges 22a and 22b which extend perpendicularly with respect to the ribs.

Situated within the notches 18a and 18b of the opposed ribs are a seriesof panels, and one of these panels 24 is illustrated in the drawings.These panels will be situated one above the other, and the severalpanels 24 will extend horizontally across the space between a pair ofvertical, parallel frames 10, as shown in FIG. 3, so that in this way alouver assembly will be achieved in the illustrated example. In otherwords, the inclined panels 24 will form in this particular examplelouvers which extend perpendicularly across the space between and arecarried by vertical parallel frames 10, such as those shown in FIG. 3,these louvers extending perpendicularly with respect to the frames 10,in a horizontal direction where the frames 10 extend vertically.

The panels 24 each have a flat wall portion 26 situated between a pairof opposed edge portions 28a and 28b. Thus, the flat wall portion 26 ofeach panel 24 will directly engage the edges 20a and 2012 which aresituated in the common plane occupied by the flat wall 26 which thusextends at the illustrated inclination with respect to the ribs 16a and16b of the frame 10. The opposed end portions 28a and 28b of each panelhas a cross section matching that of the notches 18a and 18b so as to besnugly received in these notches in the manner illustrated in thedrawings. As is apparent from the drawings the flat wall portion 26 ofeach panel 24 extends between parts of the opposed edge portions whichare each of a substantially l .-shaped cross section terminating distantfrom the flat wall portion 26 in a pair of opposed narrow strips 30a and30b which respectively overlie opposed surfaces of the flat wall portion26.

If reliance were made solely upon a construction as described above inorder to retain the panels 24 in the notches of the frame ribs, then theconnection between the panels and frames would be very unreliable. Whenthe entire assembly is subjected to a shock, for example, resulting fromthe impact of a tool, for example, or any shock resulting from any othersource, it is possible for the panels 24 simply to be jarred out of thenotches of the ribs. Furthermore, it is' a simplematter for anyindividual to grasp and twist a panel out of the rib notches wheneverdesired, so that unauthorized individuals could take the assembly apartat will.

In order to avoid these drawbacks, the structure of the inventionincludes at each of the notches of the ribs, and in particular at theedges 22a and 22b of the notches, permanently deformable locking nibs32a and 32b.

For this purpose, the ribs 160 and 16b are simply formed adjacent theedges 22a and 22b thereof with small openings 34a and 34b which willdefine with the notches 18a 1812 the locking nibs 32a and 32b. Becausethe material used for the frame is capable of being permanentlydeformed, these nibs 32a and 32b can easily be bent as by a hammer orother suitable tool into a deformed condition.

In addition to these locking nibs, the structure of the inventionincludes locking cutouts 36a and 36b in the form of relatively smallnotches extending inwardly from the free edges of the narrow strips 30aand 30b, the width and depth of these locking cutouts 36a and 36b beingsufficiently great to receive the deformed locking nibs 32a and 32b. Asis indicated in the phantom representation at the lower part of FIG. 1,these narrow strips 300 and 30b are formed with the locking cutouts 36aand 36b at intervals which will correspond to the distance between thesuccessive, vertical, parallel frames 10. Thus, with this arrangementthe locking cutouts 36a and 36b will become respectively aligned withthe deformable locking nibs 32a and 32b of the pair of opposed notches18a and 18b which respectively receive the opposed edge portions 28a and28b of each panel.

Thus, in accordance with the method of the invention the panels 24 willinitially be located in the opposed notches of the ribs of the frame inthe manner described above. Because the length of each panel correspondsto the distance between a pair of frames 10 (FIG. 3), it is possible toposition the locking cutouts so that they will become automaticallyaligned with the deformable locking nibs. Then, in accordance with themethod of the invention, the deformable locking nibs 32a and 32b arehammered, squeezed or otherwise acted on so as to be deformed into thelocking cutouts 36a and 36b respectively, thus achieving, in the mannershown in the drawings, a positive interlock between the panels and ribsof the frame. Through this exceedingly simple structure and method itbecomes possible to provide between the components and extremely secureconnection which will reliably prevent any bouncing of a panel out ofthe frame due to impact and which also prevent any easy twisting of apanel out of the frame.

lt is to be understood that while the construction described abovereference has been made to an assembly of louvers, the invention isequally applicable to all air guiding structures where blades, bafflesand the like are assembled together by a frame so as to achieve apredetermined flow.

It is apparent that with the structure and the method of the inventionno additional components are required to achieve the positive connectionof the invention while at the same time during the assembly of thecomponents, in accordance with the method of the invention the extratime and labor involved in achieving the positive interlock ispractically of no econom c consequence.

lclaim:

1. In an assembly which includes a plurality of air-guiding panels andframes which carry said panels, each frame having a pair of opposed ribsrespectively formed with notches for receiving opposed edge portions ofeach panel, respectively, said edge portions of said panel respectivelyconforming in their cross-sectional configuration to the configurationof said notches, respectively, and at least one of said ribs having nestto said notch thereof a deformable locking nib which after said panel ismounted at an edge portion thereof in said notch of said one rib may bedeformed to lock said panel at least to said one rib of each frame.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said panel is fonned at saidedge portion which is received in said notch of said one rib with alocking cutout into which said nib is deformed for providing the lockingrelationship between said one rib and said panel.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the other of said ribs is alsoformed at its notch with a deformable locking nib while the other edgeportion of said panel is formed with a locking cutout into which the nibof said other n'b can be introduced for achieving a locking relationshipat both ribs and opposed edge portions of said panel. I I

. The com matron of claim 2 and wherein said ribs of said framerespectively have at their notches edges located in common plane whichis inclined with respect to said ribs, and said panel having asubstantially flat wall portion situated in said plane and engaging saidedges of said notches, said panel having elongated edge portions ofsubstantially L-shaped cross section extending from said flat wallportion thereof and conforming to the configuration of said notches withsaid edges of L-shaped cross section terminating distant from said flatwall portion of said panel in relatively narrow strip portions overlyingsaid flat wall portion, and at least said strip portion which forms partof said one edge portion being formed with said cutout which receivessaid locking nib when the latter is deformed into said cutout.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein both of said strip portionsare formed with locking cutouts, the other of said ribs being formed atits notch with a defomtable locking nib to be received in the cutout ofthe narrow strip portion of the other of said edge portions of saidpanel.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said ribs are straight andparallel to each other and situated in a substantially common plane witha free space between said ribs across which said panel extends.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said frame is one of a seriesof parallel frames and said panel in one of a series of panels extendingbetween the frames substantially perpendicularly with respect thereto,so as to form a louvered assembly the louvers of which are formed bysaid panels.

1. In an assembly which includes a plurality of air-guiding panels andframes which carry said panels, each frame having a pair of opposed ribsrespectively formed with notches for receiving opposed edge portions ofeach panel, respectively, said edge portions of said panel respectivelyconforming in their cross-sectional configuration to the configurationof said notches, respectively, and at least one of said ribs having nestto said notch thereof a deformable locking nib which after said panel ismounted at an edge portion thereof in said notch of said one rib may bedeformed to lock said panel at least to said one rib of each frame. 2.The combination of claim 1 and wherein said panel is formed at said edgeportion which is received in said notch of said one rib with a lockingcutout into which said nib is deformed for providing the lockingrelationship between said one rib and said panel.
 3. The combination ofclaim 2 and wherein the other of said ribs is also formed at its notchwith a deformable locking nib while the other edge portion of said panelis formed with a locking cutout into which the nib of said other rib canbe introduced for achieving a locking relationship at both ribs andopposed edge portions of said panel.
 4. The combination of claim 2 andwherein said ribs of said frame respectively have at their notches edgeslocated in common plane which is inclined with respect to said ribs, andsaid panel having a substantially flat wall portion situated in saidplane and engaging said edges of said notches, said panel havingelongated edge portions of substantially L-shaped cross sectionextending from said flat wall portion thereof and conforming to theconfiguration of said notches with said edges of L-shaped cross sectionterminating distant from said flat wall portion of said panel inrelatively narrow strip portions overlying said flat wall portion, andat least said strip portion which forms part of said one edge portionbeing formed with said cutout which receives said locking nib when thelatter is deformed into said cutout.
 5. The combination of claim 4 andwherein both of said strip portions are formed with locking cutouts, theother of said ribs being formed at its notch with a deformable lockingnib to be received in the cutout of the narrow strip portion of theother of said edge portions of said panel.
 6. The combination of claim 5and wherein said ribs are straight and parallel to each other andsituated in a substantially common plane with a free space between saidribs across which said panel extends.
 7. The combination of claim 6 andwherein said frame is one of a series of parallel frames and said panelin one of a series of panels extending between the frames substantiallyperpendicularly with respect thereto, so as to form a louvered assemblythe louvers of which are formed by said panels.